The present invention relates to floating piers and particularly to a system for anchoring a concrete floating pier and similar marine structures.
Replacement of old, worn out piers can be more costly and time consuming than building new piers due to the time involved in removing the old pier before the new pier can be built. Because of this, the downtime for an operational pier can be on the order of 18 months. By replacing an old pier with a floating pier the downtime can be reduced by some 12 months if the new pier is built at an off-site location prior to demolition of the old pier. Only after the floating pier has been built, including outfitting with utility systems, is the old pier demolished. The new pier is then towed to the site and anchored in place. The short downtime for pier replacement benefits the shore facility because the major construction operations are conducted at a remote location.
The floating pier provides a structure well suited to berthing ships and servicing their needs. The floating pier structure rides the tides along with the berthed ships. This also permits the use of modern cell type fender systems where the fender is designed to contact a ship hull at the waterline because both the ship and pier move together with the tide.
An anchoring system for this new type of concrete floating pier must take into consideration tidal effects and other environmental conditions, such as currents, seismic loadings, static loads, seafloor soil conditions, etc. The floating pier must be anchored in place with a system which allows the pier to efficiently raise and lower with the tide and effectively withstand other environmental conditions, such as hurricane winds and strong currents. The pier anchoring system must also allow the pier to withstand seismic loads and permit the pier to remain level during lateral displacements.